Repression and Recovery
by Rheallia
Summary: TFP: Orion readjusts to life on the Nemesis as the Autobots readjust to life without Optimus. The Autobots haven't given up yet, and Ratchet calls in an old friend to help.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers nor their Characters

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><p>The room was dark, cold and stark, bare of any items save for a berth, table and chair. Orion couldn't complain, however. They were in the middle of a war. Supplies were low and rationed between the members of the crew and this particular room had not been lived in in some time.<p>

Orion was slowly adjusting to the _Nemesis_. After his arrival and introduction to the crew, Megatronus had shown the 'bot around the ship on a personal tour. The _Nemesis_, like his new room, was cold, dark, and bare. The whole ship was rather dreary looking, with its dark colored halls, and little lighting. Somehow Orion felt as though the atmosphere was not aiding the moral of the troops stationed on the ship. Unless the atmosphere reflected to moral of the troops?

Speaking of which, Orion found the soldiers onboard rather peculiar. They were identical, each wearing the same style of armor. The lack of individuality was strange, escpecially when they were compared to the intricately detailed and flamboyant armor of the higher officials.

After the tour, short and not a complete walk of the _Nemesis_, Megatronus had shown Orion to his room. It was not extravagantly large, but it was larger than most on the ship and reserved for officers of the vessel. It was here that Megatronus had left him, allowing Orion to deal with his own thoughts for the time being.

Confusion and worry were an understatement. It was rather unnerving to online one sol only to realize vorns had passed. Waking up on an alien planet did not help much either. These factors Orion knew he could overcome easily with time and a little more knowledge.

It was the war that unnerved him.

He now had enemies he knew nothing of. He was on an alien planet he knew nothing of. He was in the midst of a war he did not know the cause of.

All he knew was what Megatronus had told him, that it had been caused by disagreements between the two current factions. But over what?

Orion had been told little of the other faction so far, besides that the words 'Autobot' and 'mortal enemy' were the same. These same Autobots were the apparent cause of the abandonment of Cybertron, something else he knew nothing about.

Trying to push the thoughts of a dead Cybertron away, Orion instead focused on the moment when he first awakened on the planet Earth, attempting to see if he could remember anything of the gap in his memory between Cybertron and this planet. The large, hollow cavern he had gained consciousness in was strange, and then there was the appearance of three Cybertronians he did not recognize- Autobots.

He almost expected himself to feel immediate distaste for the bots of the other faction, yet he did not. He dismissed it as his old habits; as a data-clerk who loved learning, he wanted to know everything before making an opinion. He needed to know about the Autobots, their habits, goals, deeds and pasts before he could see them as evil.

It was the three Autobots in the cavern that were presenting the most prominent confusion for Orion. They had seemed to know him, calling him by a different name. He did not know who this 'Optimus' was or why they referred to him as such. His loose theory was that it had been a ploy, but why would they have used a designation he did not recognize?

Thus was one part of Orion's confusion.

The second was the smaller, yellow Autobot. He appeared to be the youngest of the three, most likely a scout based on his frame model. Orion would have not been so troubled by the appearance of the youngling had he not looked at Orion desperately with those large, pleading optics. It was the way he had been calling to Orion, calling for his-

Orion's thoughts were halted when he received a ping from outside his new residence. Someone was waiting.

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><p>"So all we need to do is get the Matrix back?"<p>

"I don't know, Bulkhead."

"And give it to Optimus, right?"

"I don't know."

"It'll give Optimus his memories back, shouldn't it?"

"I don't know!" Ratchet snapped, patience having finally broken. For the past several days, the Autobots had been searching for a way to bring back their leader, but they had no success so far. They were searching the skies for the _Nemesis_ and for Optimus' comm. link, but there was no sign of either yet. They were still hopeful but patience was wearing thin and Bulkhead's constant questions were only driving the point home that they knew little to nothing about what happened or what to do.

In his anger, Ratchet turned away from the computer he was working at to look at Bulkhead, ready to lash out at the Wrecker, but Arcee beat him to it.

"Bulkhead, we don't know anything!" Arcee yelled. "The Matrix wasn't in Unicron's spark chamber. We have no idea what happened in there! We don't know what happened to the knowledge of the Primes, it could be lost forever! Pit, the Matrix could be dead for all we know!"

Ratchet knew that Bulkhead's reply was going just as fuming. It was in Bulkhead's nature to reciprocate equally; fight fire with fire, match force with force, and meet anger with anger. His response was no less irate.

"I'm sorry I'm just trying to help! It's been nearly two weeks, and we haven't done anything! We're waiting here on our afts while the Decepticons have Optimus and are probably planning to crush us!"

"Not everything's about action, Bulkhead!" Arcee's reply was scathing and bitter. "We _have_ been doing something! Maybe if you actually helped we could have found Optimus by now!"

"It's not like what _you're_ doing has actually helped! We've just been sitting here doing nothing!"

The rest of the room, sans the two fighting, was quite. The children had fallen silent, eyes watching the verbal battle from their perch on the balcony, as did as Bumblebee from his seat on the floor, sad and doorwings drooping. Fights like these were occurring far too often for anyone's liking; tensions were high with Optimus gone. They were already outnumbered _with_ Optimus, but with their leader, the one who inspired them, the one who they believed in, the one they would risk their lives for, gone, things seemed utterly hopeless. The long they went without Prime, the more likely they were to fail.

Thus was the source of their tension.

However, Ratchet decided that this particular fight was finished. Even with their previous efforts having no success, he had one more ace up his sleeve, so to say. He turned back towards the monitor.

"Stop, you two. This isn't helping." He ordered, voice neutral.

"But-" Bulkhead began protesting but Ratchet cut him off, turning around again.

"But, nothing. You think an old mech like me can't do anything?" He asked. Bulkhead fumbled for a reply.

"Well, we haven't been-" the Wrecker was cut off again, this time by a glare by the medic. "Um, no…?"

"We are not hopeless yet, Bulkhead." Again, Ratchet turned to the monitor, this time pulling up a communication cue on the screen. There was a gasp of 'Really?' from Miko and even Bumblebee seemed to perk up a bit. Ratchet couldn't help feel sorry for the youngling; he knew of the relationship between Optimus and Bumblebee.

"What are you doing, Ratch?" Arcee asked, joining the medic in front of the moniter. He could tell that she was still angry, though she appeared to have better reigned in her emotions. "Who are you contacting?"

"The one 'bot who can find Optimus."

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><p><strong>AN:** Short, but this is really all I have time for now . I've been wanting to do this for a while (since the TF:P season one finale) and I recently had inspiration to write it. Then my inspiration was crushed under the mass of work I had to complete. I'm hoping to get more chapters up soon (apparently all my Art History class is good for is drawing and writing).

Reviews are loved!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Still don't own Transformers

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><p>Orion had joined Megatronus, for his evening share of energon in Megatronus' quarters. Or part of it, he should say. Being the commander of the ship, Megatronus owned the largest rooms aboard the ship. His quarters were several rooms, a berthroom, private washracks, and a work room, all branching off of the central room which was used to welcome guests, as few there may be. However, the central room was seeing more uses lately, as Orion often took his energon with Megatronus in this room. It was not that Orion was overly shy, but he had yet to become well accustomed with many of the higher officials. And besides, he would like to become reacquainted with his old friend and perhaps recover his seemingly lost memories.<p>

"Have you remembered anything new?" questioned Megatronus - Megtron as he now liked to be called (Orion could not blame him for shortening his name).

"No, sorry," Orion had no luck recovering any of his memories. He had spent time contemplating and meditating, yet he could not find anything to trigger the reemergence of his memories.

"Hm. Unfortunate," Megatron said, swirling the pink liquid in his cube gently. He was pleased with the news. The less Orion knew about his time as Optimus, the better. "I was hoping you could perhaps remember information that could help us defeat the Autobot forces."

"Even my last memories before Earth are fuzzy," Orion replied, frowning. He could not help feeling that something important were in those memories. Silence lapsed between the two as each continued drinking from his own cube before Megatron spoke again.

"How are you finding the _Nemesis_, Orion?" He tried steering the conversation away from Orion's past. Again, the less he knew the better.

"It's rather…gloomy," He answered. "Though, I guess you've never been the happy, cheerful sort." He smiled when Megatron snorted. "I do have to say that your officers are rather peculiar."

And peculiar they were. Airachnid was cunning with a curious air of danger and Knockout had already flirted with him on several occasions. He had not spoken with the gruff Breakdown much and he had yet to hear Soundwave speak at all.

"Mm," Megatron agreed, sipping some of his energon. "Quite a few of my best soldiers are off planet. I must make do with what I have." He paused before adding, "If you are bored, perhaps I can find some work for you to do on the _Nemesis_. The workload has become unbalanced without my second-in-command."

"Your second-in-command?" Orion knew that Soundwave was third in the chain of command, yet he had seen nor heard of the second. "Is he off planet?"

"No," Megatron heaved a sigh. "He tried to usurp my position and he fled when he failed. I do not know where he is currently."

"Usurp?"

"He no longer agreed with my tactics and handling of the army," Megatron recounted bitterly as though the events left a bad taste on his glossa. " He felt as though he could lead better than I and wanted control of the Decepticons for himself."

"He seems an…unlikely choice for a second-in-command," Orion commented.

"He was a brilliant tactician and he was loyal once," Megatron said. "He was a excellent second-in-command, before we began to…disagree."

Again there was silence. Megatron drained the rest of his energon, before standing.

"I apologize, Orion, but I must return to my duties. The ship cannot run itself." Orion rose with him, holding his mostly empty cube, finishing it as the two made their way to the exit. Megatron paused before the open door, turning towards to Orion. "I will see if I can get something to do if you are bored."

He turned towards the direction of the bridge, leaving Orion behind. "Megatronus." the warlord paused when Orion called him by his name, his old name. Again, he turned towards Orion, whose refused to meet his gaze, blue optics cast down to the floor.

"We were...fighting," Orion said "There was a disagreement," he met Megatron's optics, "I don't want anything to come between us."

Megatron froze. Had Orion actually remembered? If he had, Megatron doubted Orion would still be here. And besides, he still acted like Orion and not that accursed Prime.

Instead, Megatron smiled, placing a clawed servo over the purple insignia on Orion's shoulder.

"Of course not, brother."

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><p>"How's Bumblebee doing?" Jack asked as he watched the youngest of the three children climb the stairs to the balcony that had been designated as their area. Raph and his guardian had just returned from spending time together outside the base, the scout having duty soon.<p>

"Okay. Better than before, but still not great," Raph replied, squeezing in between Jack and Miko on the sofa.

"He's really taking this hard isn't he?" Miko asked. She had been oddly subdued the past week. She was still her loud, obnoxious self, but she seemed much more conscious of what annoyed others, toning down her antics in order not to set someone off.

"He lost a father-figure, of course he's taking it hard," Raph said glumly. Bumblebee was his best friend. He hated seeing him in such a depressed state, seeing him so un-Bumblebee like.

"Father-figure? I always thought it was more of a hero-worship thing," Jack commented, turning on the TV though he wasn't interested in whatever was playing.

"Really? What makes you say that?"

"I don't think Optimus could be a good father."

A pause, and then;

"That's kind of cold, Jack," Miko said, reaching across Raf to grab the remote from Jack.

"Wait, I don't mean that Optimus would be a bad parent," Jack explained, not caring about the thievery. "I mean that he wouldn't be _able_to be a good father. He's commander of an army, right? So he probably wouldn't have time to devote to a relationship. It's also...hard to loose someone close to you. I think as a commander during war, you'd want to eliminate any chance of compromising yourself and your leadership abilities."

"Jack is correct." It was Ratchet who spoke, the bot entering the main room of the silo from one of the attaching hallways. He had left the monitor for a few minutes to check on the stock in one of the storage rooms despite it being his turn for monitor duty. It was strange how he had, without a thought, put faith in the children (or at least two of them) to act accordingly if a situation arose. As much as he hated to admit it, the children had grown on Ratchet.

"Didn't anyone tell you it's rude to listen in on conversations?" Miko chided. As if _Ratchet_needed scolding.

"I wouldn't 'eavesdrop' if you didn't talk so loudly," He retorted, resuming his post in front of the monitor. The humans were not actually talking loudly; Cybertronians just had highly sensitive hearing.

"A Prime often has very few relationships," the medic stated, resuming the earlier conversation he 'rudely interrupted'. "Prime's are often times large targets, even more so during war. In order to protect himself, and those he cares about, a Prime needs to limit his relationships. This is they cannot be used against him or make others into potential targets."

"Did Optimus have many friends?" Raf asked, hoping the answer would be positive. He knew far too well what it was like to be alone.

"He does," Ratchet answered, relief immediately filling Raf. "Most Primes, including Optimus, have a small group of highly trusted friends. Most of Optimus' make up the higher ranking officials of the Autobot cause. I am lucky to be considered one of these friends as is Bumblebee."

"Huh," Jack replied. "I wouldn't have guessed the way Optimus and Bumblebee act towards each other. They don't seem that close."

"Despite appearances, Optimus_ is_ a very strong father-figure to Bumblebee. They show little affection towards each other to keep the relationship a secret, especially in such a small team where such bonds can be easier to detect. I doubt that even Bulkhead and Arcee know the full extent of their relationship." Ratchet paused, allowing the children to mull over the new information. Raf seemed interested but unsurprised, most likely having been told most of this before by Bumblebee himself, whereas Jack seemed to be trying to understand, most likely looking for events in his memory to support Ratchet's claim. The medic had no idea what Miko was think, nor did he have any want to, but she was the first to speak.

"So, who are Optimus' other friends?" she asked. "He's so serious all the time. I wanna know what his other friends are like. Are they grouchy like you or more like Bumblebee?"

Ratchet raised a brow-plate at the obvious poke at his personality. He turned towards the monitor, deciding he should probably do some actual work while on duty. Besides, he could easily carry on a conversation at the same time.

"There's a rash, trigger-happy mech, a hard-aft who's a stickler for protocol, and at the same time a laid-back one who is prone to bending protocol until it nearly break,." He stated. He was scanning frequencies in hopes of locating the _Nemesis_ for the one hundred and seventy-eighth time that week. And yes, he counted. "There's really no specific type of friend Optimus has, if that's what you're asking. All of us balance each other out."

"Do you think we'll get to meet any more of them?" Jack asked hopefully. Miko bounced in her seat at the opposing end of the sofa in anticipation and agreement. The idea of meeting new Autobots excited them.

"I'd say so," Ratchet stated simply, smiling ever so slightly.

"Are any of them the ones you called to Earth?" Raf asked, catching onto Ratchet's demeanor.

"Perhaps," Was the vague answer, but the medic's expression belied his reply, his smile extending into an almost smug smirk. He had said little about the Cybertronians he had contacted, the only information he had supplied was that there was not one, but three 'bots making their way towards Earth and that they would arrive in about two weeks' time. With half of time gone, there was only several days left before the arrival of the new 'bots and Ratchet still refused to reveal any more information. Yet here he was dangling a tasty bit of information in front of the children and he refused to tell them anything straightforward. He was toying with them and it was hopelessly tantalizing.

"Come on, Doc-bot!" Miko begged, abandoning the couch and TV to take up a position against the railing, thus making her closer to Ratchet. "Who are they?"

"Nuh-uh. I'm not telling you anymore." He answered, voice serious but thoroughly amused.

"Please?"

"No."

At this point Jack and Raf joined their female companion against the railing.

"Tell us, Ratchet!"

"Nope."

"Pleeease?" "Tell us!"

"Never."

"Com'on, Ratchet!"

"Pretty please with a cube of energon on top?"

"Tell us!"

"Over my offline frame."

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><p><strong>AN:<strong> *headdesk* I wanted to have this done _weeks_ ago. I had some time about a month ago, but my sister lent me her _Inheritance_ book (fourth and last book of the Eragon series) and I had to read it, which I did and it took a week with about 12 hours a day dedicated to school. Then there was the book I had to read for English, that huge Chemistry test to study for, that Art History project to do... You get the drift.

I was also without a computer for two weekends traveling. At one point I had the epiphany to _text_ my email account with the story. And I did. 160 characters at a time. Hopefully the next chapter will be done sooner.

**Also!** Thank you very much to all who favorited and commented! I was surprised to receive so much!

Reviews are very much loved :)


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Still wishes she owned Transformers, but doesn't

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><p>It took about fourteen very short Earth solar cycles, something called a 'fortnight' or two 'weeks', before Orion fully settles onto the <em>Nemesis<em>. The dreary atmosphere of the ship did npt unsettle him as it once did and he was less prone to getting lost in the labyrinth of corridors. Even when he did, there was usually somebot to point him in the right direction. Most of the time that bot happened to be a drone.

Oh, how he hated that word. _Drone._ That's what he the officers and higher ranking bots called the Eradicons, saw them as. Could they not see the unique personalities and habits each one had? Or did they simply choose to ignore it?

Orion had seen countless numbers of the Eradicons on board, each and every one strongly monotone when compared to the varied, and oftentimes flamboyant frames of those upper ranking mechs and femme. Still, Orion had seen the individuality amongst the Eradicons. He had heard them joke and gossip with one another and address each other with alien nick-names. He had seen the unique bits of personality in those 'drones'.

It was through this attention that he gradually gained the trust of many the Eradicons. They had been slow to trust Orion when he first arrived onboard. He was sure it was their hesitance towards his sudden appearance on the ship, and the fact he once wore the Autobot sigil, but he seemed to win over most of the Eradicons with acknowledgement and respect that few bots of his ranking would show. Soon enough he was learning their names and habits and even began to distinguish between the different mechs, like Dwain's peculiar speech pattern, the way timid Geoffrey bounded down the halls when he had something new to share, or the ever-sulking demeanor of Steve.

Despite many of his new acquaintances, Orion did often find himself bored. Very, _very_ bored. There was nothing to do for him here on the here on the ship and the Eradicons seemed constantly busy. He had once tried to access the _Nemesis_' massive library of information, but had discovered a vast majority of it to be blocked by clearance he did not have. He asked the first bot he could find about this, Soundwave, although he hadn't been sure if would actually receive an answer from the mech. Soundwave was extremely picky over when he chose to speak or when he chose play cryptic recordings.

"Data; Protected." The answer had been in that strange, monotonous voice of his. "Nemesis: has been infiltrated. Data: must be protected."

Orion had thanked Soundwave, and turned to leave, believing he had received the extent of the information he needed.

"Suggestion: Speak with Lord Megatron." And with that, Soundwave had left him.

Orion had followed the advice and spoke with Megatron, asking for access to the database and for the work the Lord had offered him a week ago. He would be receiving both within the next few solar cycles.

Until then Orion would amuse himself as he usually did; outside on the _Nemesis_' landing dock. It quickly became his favorite place to spend time when Megatron left him to his own devices. It had the most natural light and fresh air the ship had to offer.

But he came here because of the view. He liked to watch the planet they flew over, when the view wasn't blocked by the white, puffy clouds that formed naturally in the atmosphere. They rarely descended below the cloud level, only doing so at night or over deserted areas. Even though the _Nemesis_' cloaking could protect it from most of the Earth's radar systems, they could not risk being spotted by a large population of the planet's dominate species; curios creatures called humans.

When Orion has asked about these precautions, he was told that the humans were far from being ready to deal with the presence of Cybertronians on their planet. They were a young species, quick to judge and prosecute those they viewed as different, even if they were among their own kind. Their reaction to an alien species would be highly negative, if the mass amount of media representations of alien invaders was anything to go by.

Still, Orion did love it when he was able to see the surface of the organic planet with an unobstructed view. Earth was beautiful, far from being the glory that one was Cybertron but breathtaking in its own unique way. There were natural colors seen here that could not be seen on his home planet, the vast swaths of blue surrounding the browns and greens of land. He had seen the patchwork tan and green of the humans' food supplies, the oblong shapes of lakes, the windings snakes of roads and sometimes the grid patterns of largely populated cities. He loved seeing the latter of the four at night, ignited in the darkness with thousands of star-like lights. It was like a galaxy sitting just on top of the planet's surface.

Orion had mentioned his like of the planet to Knockout over a cube of energon, hoping the flamboyant mech would share his appreciation for the beauty that was Earth.

Knockout had laughed saying, "Oh sure, it's pretty from up here, but down there it's full of mud, dirt, organic insects and pollution the humans spew into their own atmosphere."

Orion was sorely disappointed, but surely this wasn't the case everywhere, right? Orion figured he would never know for certain unless he went planet side himself. Speaking of which, he was highly tempted to ask Megatron if he could accompany one of the energon scouting crews down to Earth. The Autobot threat was still very present and Orion had little to no combat experience to speak of, but he would have protection amongst the Eradicons.

He would still need to gain Megatron's approval. Perhaps he should wait until he began working on whatever project he would receive to ask the lord so he wouldn't look like a spoiled sparkling asking for so much.

For now Orion would continue to pass time watching Earth pass underneath, like he did now. Despite what Knockout had said, it was still a very pretty planet, the vibrant colors unseen on Cybertron or other planets he heard about. He would hate to see it destroyed by the Autobots, a trail of destruction extinguishing countless life forms, turning the vibrant greens a lifeless brown, leaving nothing but the empty husk of a planet.

_Just like Cybertron_.

Orion shuddered at the thought of his home world. He had seen the images of the dead planet, seen what the warlord Ratchet had done.

And he would _not_ let that happen to Earth.

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><p>"Have the proper data files been sealed and those we cannot seal properly edited?" The question was directed to his third-in-command. The two were alone on the <em>Nemesis<em>' bridge, where Megatron had called Soundwave for this particular discussion and had dismissed the mass of Eradicons on duty as to keep this meeting private.

The only answer Megatron received from Soundwave was a quiet nod in the affirmative.

"Good," Megatron rumbled. If he were to allow Orion access to both Project Iacon and the data network, which Orion would find his way into no matter what in order to satisfy his curiosity, all data that could possibly revive Optimus' memories or at least plant doubt into Orion's processor must be completely sealed away or edited to hide the incriminating information. Megatron had left this task to Soundwave, trusting the mech to work fast, accurately and, most importantly, quietly. Megatron could not risk information reaching naïve Orion's audials. They must keep Orion as Orion for as long as they were capable to do so.

"And Soundwave,"

The mech gave acknowledgement with the slight tilt of his helm. Primus, Soundwave was quiet, going for ages without speaking. But that was what Megatron liked about the mech; his silence and steadfast loyalty, completely opposite to that screechy seeker he once reffered to as his second-in-command

"I want you to monitor Orion's work. Record anything he decodes and researches from the files. I need to know immediately if he begins digging too deep into sensitive files. Understood?"

A shallow nod from Soundwave was all that was needed.

"Good. Dismissed."

With that Soundwave left the bridge and thus leaving Megatron alone.

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><p><strong>AN:**Urgh, finally got this chapter finished. I gave myself a week reprieve from the last chapter and then got pounded by a mass of school work and testing -_- Not to mention I was having trouble writing this particular chapter. Next part (I hope) shouldn't be _too_ difficult and I'll be revealing the three new Autobots coming to Earth. Two have been guessed already and I'm honestly not surprised nobody's said the third one yet. He/She/It's more along for the ride anyways ^_^;

Thank you to everyone who reviewed and commented! I'd love to get back to each and every one of you, but I just don't have to time to so. But still, thank you so much 3


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Nope, still doesn't own Transformers

Also, some differences in types of text used for speaking:

"Normal talking"

_:Bumblebee talking in beeps and such:_

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><p>The sun was scorching hot in the Sahara desert, made worse by the light reflecting off of the light colored sand. Yet this is where Ratchet found himself, standing on top of a dune in the middle of a mammoth desert. He grumbled as he lifted one of his pedes out of the sand and shook it. The miniscule grains of rock were already working their way into the inner workings of his pedes. It was going to be the Pit trying to remove all of the sand later.<p>

Which meant he was going to get a _lot_ of complaining from the three 'bots currently extracting themselves from the sand.

"You slaggin' medic! You couldn't have picked a better place to land?" the largest, and closest to Ratchet, of the three yelled as he attempted to dig himself out of the ever shifting sand. The other two were a far distance away. Good, so they were able to access the World Wide Web and learn Earth's languages.

"I could have, but it wouldn't nearly be as entertaining to watch!" Ratchet hollered back, smirking. He heard the other mech curse and thrash.

Yes, a less sandy location could have been chosen, but the Sahara had been one of the better options. The three 'bots had no ship and chose to make landfall in their transitional forms, which had the added bonus of a disguise in the form of a natural-looking meteor. Even with the masquerade, it was still important to keep the landing a secret from the humans. Hence the isolated location. If the 'meteors' were tracked, as humans often tended to do so, the daunting task of trekking several days through the burning desert was enough to deter, if not delay, them from reaching the site for several days with preparations, traveling, and all. Not to mention the craters left on impact would be much easier to erase if they were in the dunes. Footprints left in the sand were much more ethereal than those left in soil, plants, or rock.

There was another string of curses from the mech, still half-buried as he sent plumes of sand skywards in arcs as he attempted to free himself from the infernal sand.

"Welcome to Earth!" Ratchet yelled.

* * *

><p>The dark, cavernous entrance to the Autobot base could not have come at a better time for Jack. He had been stuck riding from school to the base with Miko and Bulkhead. It wasn't that he didn't like spending time with the pair, it was just the conversation had turned into who would win in a battle, Megatron or the Five-Headed Ape. That, and Jack wasn't sure how they could hear each other over the blaring of Slash Monkey on Bulkhead's stereo.<p>

Jack wished he had taken a ride with Raf and Bumblebee, despite the fact he would still be left out of the conversation due to his inability to understand the scout. It would have been a lot less headache inducing, though. Unfortunately, Raf's last class was much closer to the school entrance than Jack's, and Bumblebee, never having liked loitering around the school for too long, left immediately when Raf joined him.

Which was strange considering that Bumblebee was now trailing fair distance behind Bulkhead. Jack assumed it was the cause of Bumblebee being so careful. Unlike Jack and Miko, Raf could not pass a licensed driver, so Bumblebee stuck to roads less travel to avoid unwanted attention. Although longer and more time consuming, it was by far the safest route Bumblebee could take. It would be very difficult to explain why a ten-year-old was the only occupant of a moving vehicle.

Bulkhead slowly rolled to a stop and Jack eagerly opened the passenger door before Bulkhead and Miko's debate became even more heated. As he hopped the good distance between Bulkhead and the cement floor, he caught a quick glimpse of blue armor near the ground bridge controls out of the corner of his eye.

"Hey Arcee, what-" Jack stopped as he turned fully towards the femme; the armor was a dusty, metallic blue, not the cobalt he had been expecting. And he should have seen the blatant differences between Arcee's frame and this one. This Autobot was taller and bulkier, but, Jack noted, had had curves of a more effeminate nature. "Aaand you're not Arcee."

No, Arcee was on the _other _side of the bunker, arms crossed with a slightly bemused expression. Jack quickly strode over to his guardian, purposefully avoiding looking at the femme he mistook as Arcee. He was somewhat embarrassed about the fact and he really didn't want to deal with the newcomer and the questioning gaze he was sure she was giving him now.

"Sorry, Jack. Monitor duty," Arcee explained when her charge reached her side

"A little warning would have been nice. I didn't have my Five-Headed Ape facts prepared," Jack replied. He finally looked towards the unknown femme, but she was looking behind her. Bulkhead was transforming and there was the low rumble of an engine from the entrance to the base signaling Bumblebee's arrival.

Her companion, who Jack had not noticed until now, was similarly distracted. He, if appearances were correct, stood opposite of the femme, in the shadows near the Ground Bridge itself. He had a size similar to Bulkhead, but where Bulkhead was rotund, the other made up for pure metal muscle. Massive cannons or some other form of artillery rested on his forearms, and his plating was a combination of red and black. His build and his stance gave the impression that he was not one to mess with.

Which is why Jack assumed he was the one Miko approached.

"Who are you? You a Wrecker like Bulkhead? Can you break a cement block with your hands? Do you use a light pole for a baseball bat?" she asked rapidly, leaving no pause in between each question. She had clearly surprised the red and black mech with her abrupt boldness. He looked taken aback, dumbfounded even, but he did not have time to answer before he was tackled by a blur of black and yellow.

_:'Hide!:_ Bumblebee squealed, wrapping his arms around the mech midriff. Even those who couldn't understand him could tell he was exuberant, so much happier than he had been in the past few weeks.

"Bumblebee!" The mech Ironhide had a deep, gruff voice, with a slight Southern drawl. He hugged Bumblebee back with similar enthusiasm, before grasping both of the scout's shoulders and pulling back to look at him square in the optic. "You've been keeping those cons on their pedes, right?"

_:'Course,:_ Bumblebee chirped, nuzzling back into Ironhide's abdomen. It had been far too long since the last time he had done this.

"You're not getting soft on me, are you?" Ironhide teased at the display of affection.

:_No,:_ Bumblebee buzzed angrily, glaring up at the older mech.

"Prove it," Ironhide goaded, smiling.

Bumblebee pushed himself away from Ironhide, raising his servos in front of his faceplates and sinking down on slightly bent legs. With doorwings in a sharp 'V', Bumblebee had taken on a fighting stance, and not a moment too soon, as Ironhide immediately lashed out with a closed fist. The servos whistled through the air over Bumblebee's head, the scout having ducked the incoming blow.

_:You're getting slow, old mech!:_ Bumblebee quipped, dodging another swing. There was a growl from Ironhide as he continued his barrage on the smaller mech. Bumblebee expertly weaved through the punches, his small stature and speed allowed him to easily dodge to slower, heavier blows from Ironhide.

Bulkhead skirted the edge of the sparring match, joining Arcee and Jack. Raf and Miko followed in his wake, the later pouting slightly at being ignored. Raf shot Jack a confuse look, pointing his thumb at the unknown femme in a clear question of 'Who are they?'

Jack shrugged in response, just as clueless.

"I don't think the Doc-bot will like it if he finds them sparring by the Ground Bridge controls," the Wrecker said, taking up a position next to Arcee.

"Which is why Ratchet won't find out," the other, unknown femme said, a sly smile stretched across her faceplates. "I won't tell if you won't."

"Name's Chromia," she said and then gestured with the flick of her helm towards the sparring match. "Big lug over there is Ironhide."

"The Autobot weapons specialist?" Bulkhead asked.

"The one and only."

There were resounding clangs of metal on metal as the two sparring landed hits on each other. They were not vicious blows, however. By now Ironhide had Bumblebee pinned. Even with the scout's speed, the confined space of the silo and Ironhide's far greater experience had the scout on pure defense. He had managed to land several hits, but he was now focused on evading Ironhide's punches. Unfortunately even that was becoming harder to do, with the Ground Bridge behind him and the cold stone wall of the silo to his right.

"We might be too late with the not-letting-Ratchet-know plan," Arcee stated dryly.

The sound of ped-steps could be heard from the hallway that lead to the Autobots' quarters and other assorted rooms for storage and such. It was indeed Ratchet, entering the main silo with a scowl on his faceplates, obviously at the roughhousing occurring around to his sensitive equipment. There was a figure behind him, smaller and carrying all the curves a female Cybertronian could hope to have in a frame. Feminine, and very pink. The femme's face was unreadable, but keen blue optics were focused intently on the sparring match.

"Oh, go easy on him, please?" Chromia begged the final of the three new additions to the current Autobot team. "Ironhide just got his new armor. He's all shiny."

The pink femme barely spared a glance at Chromia before rushing at the two battling mechs. She met Ironhide mid-punch, grabbing on to his swinging arm a pulling. Ironhide, already having the misfortune of overreaching to try to hit an out of range Bumblebee, easily was put off balance, and the femme used his own forward momentum to pull him down easily. Black and red plating met the cement floor with a resounding _clang_.

Stepping over the now grumbling Ironhide, the femme held open her arms to the yellow scout. "Bumblebee!" she exclaimed softly, voice full of care that belied her previous action of flooring a mech larger than she was.

Bumblebee proceed to jump into the femme's arms with nearly twice the excitement he had when he had done the same with Ironhide.

_:Elita!:_

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** *headdesk* My God, I finished this a _lot_ later than I meant to. The end of school was hectic and even the first month after school ended was chaotic. I didn't get a whole lot of time to write, had to travel a bit, but finally got it done. I'm not sure I'm _completely_ happy with this chapter, but I really wanted to finish it before I left for vacation.

But Elita, Chromia and Ironhide are here! Hopefully these three won't give me too much trouble to write. It's kinda hard to get Chromia and Elita's personalities, since there's only been _one_ episode they've been in fromthe '80s. Also for those who don't know, transitional forms (according to the wiki) is the term for the forms the Autobots came to earth in during the 2007 movie (you know, the meteor things).

Again, thanks for all the faves and reviews. They fill me with such wonderful feels! 3 Until next time!


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